When the IU men’s track and field team competes in the IU Relays this weekend, there will be some familiar faces among the competition.
Two former Hoosiers and 2016 Olympians, Derek Drouin and Olu Olamigoke, have returned to IU to participate in the meet for training purposes.
Olamigoke was an All-American twice during his time at IU. He competed in the Olympics for Nigeria in the triple jump, the same event he will participate in this weekend.
Drouin, who won a gold medal in the high jump for Canada, will compete in the heptathlon. He won many awards, including seven Big Ten Championships and five NCAA Championships, at IU.
After a 2-0 start to the dual meet season, IU coach Ron Helmer said he is looking forward to this weekend and he hopes to continue to improve as a team.
“I expect more of the same,” Helmer said. “We are getting more and more comfortable with bigger fields and a higher level of competition. We have some people that are training better than they are performing so hopefully that shows this weekend.”
This is the first time all season that IU will compete in the heptathlon. Along with Drouin, two current Hoosiers will compete in seven events during the two-day period. Juniors Andrew Huber and Chase Pacheco are both scheduled to partake in the heptathlon.
The heptathlon consists of four events, starting with the 60-meter dash, Friday. Competitors will then have to do the long jump, shot put and high jump to finish the night. The next day begins with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and ends with the 1000-meter run.
Helmer said leading up to big meets such as this weekend’s he stresses the importance of having a positive attitude to his team.
“I’m trying to make sure that we address the negatives, but we focus on the positives,” Helmer said. “You can’t just act like the poor performances and competitive efforts aren’t there. They have to be addressed, but we have had enough positive things happened that as we circle back around we must focus on the positives and make sure everyone keeps their minds on them.”
A main positive component of this year’s team has been junior Daniel Kuhn. Kuhn has had a strong start to the season by capturing the nation’s fastest 600-meter time, among many other notable feats. Kuhn said earlier this week he knew he was capable of this success, but he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get to where he is now because of his nagging injury before the season.
“I honestly had no idea how it was going to go coming off an injury,” Kuhn said. “I felt like I just kept having setback after setback after setback, and I wondered if I was ever going to be healthy.”
Helmer has said in the past he wants his athletes to focus on their bodies and he would take care of what they need to be working on. Helmer also said it’s no coincidence that his best athletes completely trust him.
“Every one of our outstanding athletes don’t mind being told exactly what’s going on and what they need to fix,” Helmer said. “They don’t mind being told where they are coming up short at, and they don’t take it personally. They react and respond to that criticism really well.”
Kuhn said he is feeling confident about this weekend and he’s just excited to run and have fun. Sophomore Bryce Millar shared similar opinions on this weekend’s meet and said being at home will make it easier on his preparation.
“I’m feeling really confident going into this weekend,” Millar said. “It’s a home meet so that makes it a little more relaxing. I just know that if the coaches are confident in me, then I can be confident in myself as well.”
